Receptacle for containing and discharging semisolid and pasty substances



J. F. CRAVEN.

RECEPTACLE FOR CONTAlNiNG AND DISCHARGING SEMISOLID AND PASTY SUBSTANCES.

' APPLICATION FILED AUSLZB, 1916. v

Patented Aug. 16, 1921.

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JAMES F. CRAVEN, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA.

REGEPTACLE FOR CONTAINING AND DISCHARGING SEMISOLID AND PASTY SUB- STANCES.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JAMES F. CRAVEN, a resident of Pittsburgh, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Receptacles for Containing and Discharging Semisolid and Pasty Substances, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to receptacles for containing, storing, transporting and discharging semi-solid and pasty substances of various kinds. The device is intended more particularly for putting up lubricants in the form of into grease cups of machines, or the like, and for the purpose of enabling grease to be supplied to the bearings without liability of dirt or grit entering the bearings with the grease, and also to prevent smearing or soiling the machine or the hands of the user. The device is, however, not limited to this particular use, but is adapted to furnish a container for the preservation and distribution of any semi-solid or pasty substances which may be conveniently handled in comparatively large quantities, but which in actual use are required only in small quantities and at various times.

The present invention is designed to furnish a structure for such devices, all parts of which may be readily manufactured by machinery and at very low cost. -A specific object is to make the parts of such a container in forms which will permit the filling of the device with the pasty substance to be handled, and the assembling of all the parts thereof, at any desired place, as distinguished from filling and assembling at the receptacle-making factory. A further object is to provide a container of such structure that it may be filled through the open base, rather than through a restricted aperture in the cap, andin which the central driving screw and contents-expelling follower, and base cap may all be placed in position after the receptacle is filled and without the necessity of machine work. A further object is to provide parts so made that threaded nuts may be used for engaging a driving member, without the necessity of cutting threads on any of the parts of the receptacle itself, and to provide holding means for such nuts which will permittheir ready insertion and removal.

A further object is to provide such a con- Specification of Letters Patent.

grease,and discharging the same Patented Aug. 16, 1921.

' Application filed August 28, 1916. Serial No.i117,360.

tainer with means for expelling the contents comprising a follower of such form that it will readily travel through the casing even though there may be in the surface thereof.

Afurther object is to furnish means for driving the follower through the receptacle to expel the contents by means carried by the cap at the open end of the receptacle, so that all of the strain of the driving rod comes upon the forward end of the receptacle, rather than on the base cap, as is usually the case.

Containers of the general character described herein are not new, but the present invention has improvements over the prior art in the attachment of the mechanism for driving the follower through the receptacle, in the mode of assembling the various parts, in the closure of the base, in the form of the follower itself, and in the threading of the parts driven by, and used to drive, a central actuating screw.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a central vertical section through a preferred form of the device; Fig. 2 is a similar view showing various modifications; Fig. 3 shows a modified form offollower; Fig. 4 is a plan view of an apertured cap member; and Fig. 5 is a perspective of a strap attached to the base cap.

The receptacle comprises a main casing, or body member 1 to which is rigidly fastened by crimped edges a cap 2 which has a threaded extension or neck 3, upon which a spout member 4% is adapted to be removably attached. The other which, is open. A base cap 5 having an enlarged knurled portion 6 and a cylindrical skirt portion 7 is adapted to slip on the end of the casing. and form a closing cap therefor. On the inside of the base cap is'soldered a metal strip 8' which has its middle portion raised to form a housing 9, open at each side, and having a hole 10 therethrough concentric with the axis of thereceptacle. Adisk 11 having apertures 12 and a central hole 18 is carried between the extension 3 and the spout member 4. A central driving screw 14 extends axially through the container and is provided with a double left-hand thread and an enlarged-screw head 15 which is adapted tos eat on the disk 11, the threaded body of the screw being small enough to 'end .of the casing,

in the preferred form is cylindrical,

diameter than the main body thereof, and

on this extension are right-hand threads.

A follower 17 is adapted to move upwardly through the receptacle and expel the instead of the disk 11 for an abutment, of

contents thereof through the spout member 1. It may be of any desired form, and may be of any suitable material, but preferably it is stamped from sheet metal and co nprises a central rectangular forward extension 18, and an outwardly and rearwardly inclined circular skirt portion, extending to a circumference slightly smaller than that of the interior of the container itself. Toward the outside, this member is bent downwardly to form a shoulder 20, or a circular recess around the outer edge of the follower. An annular washer 21, which may be made of leather or other suitable material, such as fiber, is seated in the recess just described. A nut 22 is loosely seated in the housing formed by extension 18 and is threaded to receive the screw 14;.

Another nut 23 is retained by the housing 9,and has a. threaded bore adapted to engage the extension 16 of the central screw. This extention is slightly shorter than the thickness of the nut 23, so that the shoulder 16 at the lower end of the screw bears against the top of the nut, when the two are fully engaged.

The operation is as follows The body 1 and the cap 2 are crimped to gether at the factory, and the strap 8 is soldered to the cap 5. All of the other parts may be shipped loose. The receptacle is inverted and filled through the open base. The washer 21, which in normal condition is of larger diameter than the interior of the casing, is sprung inwardly to the position shown in Fig. 1, and seated in the recess provided therefor on the follower. S0 held, it is in resilient engagement with the wall of the casing, and'has a tendency to press thereagainst, thus securing a certain amount of friction to prevent rotation of the follower, and also securing a tight engagement against the casing walls to prevent escape of the pasty material past the follower.

The follower is placed in position on the pasty contents, by threading its nut 22 upon the central screw 14, which has beenthrust upward through the disk 11 and the receptacle. The nut 23 having been placed in position in the housing 9, the cap 5 is rotated clockwise to engage the end 16 of the screw 14. As soon as the shoulder 16 on the screw engages the nut 23, further relative rotation thereof is prevented, and subsequent turning of the cap 5 drives the central screw clockwise. This in turn moves the follower upward through the receptacle, and forces the semi-fluid contents through the aper tures; 12 and out the spout member 4. It will be observed that the screw bears against the base cap by means of the whole surface of nut 23,210 that there is no danger of breaking through the cap.

A modification is shown in Fig. 2 in that the enlarged head 15 of screw member 14, the cap itself is extended to form a bearing for said screw head, having apertures 12* similar to those in the disk 11, and a central opening 13 similar to that of the disk. The general construction of the cap is such as to furnish a strong reinforcement, and all of the strain of drawing the follower throughthe receptacle may be safely carried at the central portionof the cap by the construction illustrated. In this figure, also, a modification of the follower is shown in that the central housing 18 thereof for the nut is surrounded by a fiat member 17 rather than one of conical form, as shown in Fig. 1. The shoulder 2O forms a recess in which the annular washer 21 is carried, but in this form it is not under compression to the extent shown in the first form. However, in this form also the part of the follower bearing against the wall of the container is behind the point of application of driving force thereto.

In Fig. 3 a still further modification of the follower is shown in that a base plate 21 is soldered onto the upper plate 17", and extends rearwa-rdly, having a. central bore and extension 25 adapted to fit loosely on the screw 14. This extension serves as a guide to hold the follower true on the driving screw, and prevents tilting on account of dents which maybe made in the side of the container or other obstructions. The housing 18", holding the nut 22, is substantially like the corresponding part in Fig. 1. This figure also shows a modified arrangement of the washer, in that it is held in an outer'annula'r notch between the upper and lower plate members 17 and 24 ofthe follower. It will be understood, of course, that this guiding rearwardextension may be applied to a follower of any particular construction, such as that shown inFigs. 1 or 2, or modifications thereof.

The extension 16 of screw 1 L .may have a terminal pointedportion 26. This acts as a guide in fitting nut 23 on the threads. Also in assembling it is convenient to .use a tool consisting of along needle-like metal rod, small enough to passfreely through hole 13 in the cap andhaving a recess in the base adapted to receive the point! 26. This guiding tool is thrust through the contents of the receptacle, the screw following it, and

through the follower, serving. as a guide to bringthe end ofthe screw into properengagement with nut 22 in the follower, and

also to hold said. nut in position while the screw is being placed in the receptacle.

It will be drawing the piston through the receptacle is applied through a forward extension of the follower, and that the part of the follower in contact with the wall of the cylinder is behind such point of application of power. In other words, the follower is pulled through the receptacle, rather than pushed, which makes it easier to overcome such obstructions as may occur because of dents inside of the casing, etc. It will further be observed that the threaded portion of the follower may be supplied by the use of an ordinary nut 22, thus doing away with the necessity of special machining or operations on that member, such nuts being procurable in larg quantities at very small cost. The same applies to the nut 23 of the base cap 5.

It will also be observed that because the strain of the follower on the driving rod is one of tension against the cap of the receptacle, as the contents are largely expelled, there is no tendency for the rod to bend or buckle, as there is in case of a piston driven from a base supported screw.

By this construction I have transferred all of the strain incident to forcing the contents of the receptacle out to the outlet end thereof, have provided for filling the same through an entirelyopen base, have provided a base cap which does not have to be placed in position at the factory, which may be readily removed, and which itself need not be threaded.

I claim l. A container of the class described com-,

prising a receptacle provided at one end with an apertured cap, a follower for exerting pressure on the substance in said receptacle, an axially disposed rod adapted to pass freely through the cap and threaded through the follower and provided with a head seating on the outside of the cap for retaining said rod in fixed longitudinal but rotatable position, and a rotatable base for the receptacle having 'a detachable threaded engagement with said rod.

2. A container of the class described com- '2 prising a receptacle provided at one end with an pertured cap, an axially disposed threadobserved that the power for ed rod adapted to pass freely through the apertured'cap and having a terminal 'head seating on the outside of said cap, a follower having threaded engagement with said rod to force the contents out of the receptacle, and a base cap for said receptacle connected to the lower end of said rod and detachable therefrom by reverse rotation.

3. A container of the class described comprising a receptacle provided at one end with a discharge opening, a removable cap for said discharge opening, an apertured disk held in place by the cap, a rod passing freely through a central opening in said disk and provided with a terminal head seating thereon, a follower adapted to be engaged by the threaded'rod and actuated thereby, and a base cap having a threaded engagement with the rod to hold it in fixed longitudinal position and to furnish driving means therefor.

4. A container of the class described comprising a receptacle provided at one end with a discharge opening, a removable cap thereon, an apertured metal disk held in position by the cap and having a central opening, a threaded rod passing freely through said central opening and having an enlarged head seating on the outside of the disk, a threaded follower inside the re ceptacle adapted to be actuated by rotation of said rod, and a detachable cap closing the base of the receptacleand having means for threaded engagement with the end of said rod, whereby to hold the rod in fixed longitudinal position and to rotate the rod to drive the follower.

5. A container of the class described comprising a casing having a discharge orifice at one end, an axial threaded rod rotatably mounted in the discharge end of the conrod, and an intermediate flexible washer bearing against the casing wall.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand.

JAMES F. CRAVEN. Witnesses I GLENN H. Lnnnsoma, A. E. J OHNSON. 

